Love Your Shop Giveaway!

I'll never forget my first LYS experience...I wanted something to do on a weekend at the lake, and my friend Amy offered to teach me how to knit. The first thing we did was drive to the nearest LYS, it was a tiny shop in the next town with walls packed floor-to-ceiling with yarn. I was completely overwhelmed, and to be honest, didn't understand the zeal exhibited by the woman behind the counter (the owner I soon found out). After deciding to start with a scarf, she pressed a pattern book into my hands, and clutching my arm, said with a shudder, "The scarves in this book give me chills!"

I was completely intoxicated by her enthusiasm and bought not only the book, but a Learn to Knit DVD, three skeins of wool and a set of Addi's (that was three years ago and I still haven't made a thing in that book). As I was leaving, she stopped me at the door and gushed, "I'm so excited for you! Promise me you'll knit two rows a day!" I laughed. But she wouldn't let go of my arm and looked right into my eyes with a deadly serious stare. "Promise me!! People start knitting and then they put it down and forget about it. Promise you'll knit two rows!" Okay, okay, lady, geez...

Going to that shop immediately became tradition. I never once went to the lake without stopping there to talk, learn, and take a big whiff of that woman's obsessive, almost scary passion for fibers. I would love to see her today and tell her how far I've come. Sadly, that shop closed last summer.

Now that I work at an LYS myself, I try to pay her lessons forward. We educate a new generation of crafters with Kids Camps and birthday parties, we provide help and encouragement to new knitters, and we are a shoulder to lean on during knitting and non-knitting emergencies, we are a meeting place for our community. Where would any of us be without our LYS? I know I wouldn't have even known my own creativity, and I certainly wouldn't be writing this love letter today.

Classic Elite wants to give back to the men and women who risk it all to follow their dreams, open yarn shops and keep them open in these changing and challenging times. In fact, we have so much faith in those dreams that we want to give everyone a present. Between now and December 15th, spend $40 or more on yarn or books at any CEY retailer in the continental US and send us your receipts. We will send you a free recent pattern book and three mini-skeins! It's our "thank you" to all the knitters and crocheters who recognize the value of supporting our local knitting communities. Please see our website for rules and instructions on how to receive your gift.

If you think your Local Yarn Shop should be involved, click the Download button below to print your own Love Your Shop flyer for display!

36 comments:

I JUST TODAY SPENT $50.50 lol at the Fiber Factory (Owner Terri) I'm Calling Her tomorrow & Telling Her about it So She Can Print a Flyer for her other Customers !!!! Very Nice love love CE Yarns Just Bought Jil Eaton Last WeeK !!! Gorgeousss Lavender I'm Gifting Out with Needles to My Kp Community gal pals In SAL !!!!

What a wonderful gift - thank you so much. I shop at Sealed with a Kiss in Guthrie, Oklahoma, where I receive awesome customer service and expert instruction. I am headed there on Saturday. THANKS! Sherie

I'd love to participate since I love my LYS which started off small but with a lovely selection of yarns has been able to build up the business and is is still growing. Unfortunately I can't participate since there is no yarn shop in France selling Classic Elite !

While we would love to include everyone in our promotion to support all LYSs, we have limitations due to prohibitive shipping costs outside the continental US. In spite of these limits, we hope you will continue to support all local yarn shops, no matter the geography.

Wonderful promotion - I have a question - I have a receipt from my LYS for $42.00 but I had a store credit for part of that purchase and also a frequent buyer voucher for part of the purchase. Will this qualify?

I bought yarn at my LYS yesterday...one of the two in town who sell some Classic Elite...but the receipt isn't itemized. Will it still work? She just gave me the one the copy from the credit card machine. I'm there most Saturdays, so I think she figured she'd remember what I got!

My LYS carries Classic Elite yarns, as well as St. Denis yarns (do those count?), but they're not listed on your site. I'm guessing it's at least a little out of date, as I see a shop listed that I know is closed; I used to work there. :(

Do knitting magazines such as Interweave Knits or Vogue Knitting count? It's hard to convince myself to buy knitting books this close to Christmas, but I can easily justify buying a magazine or three. :)

Amgoth2000, the rule regarding shops is that the store must be a CEY retailer to qualify.

Emy, I'm sorry to hear that a listed shop has since closed! That makes this promotion seem all the more important, support your local shops everyone! It looks like our online list needs to be updated, but if your shop buys Classic Elite yarn from us, then we definitely have a record of it, so it counts.

St. Denis yarns also count, as they're distributed by Classic Elite. Books and patterns are valid purchases, so I would say magazines are valid. I'm a magazine junkie myself.

Yay! I got that itemized receipt for last week today...but it doesn't matter because I spent another $50 today for small business day...and cuz I'm an addict! :) I'll be sending one of the receipts in on Monday. Thanks again for doing this!!!

I love your story about your first LYS experience. I moved to Lowell two years ago, and I just started knitting again, so I'm looking for a LYS. So far I've been going to Michael's, but I'm on my second sweater, and when I start my third sweater I want to use nicer yarn (I should be ready by then?). When I Googled yarn shops in Lowell, MA I came up with Classic Elite Yarns. Not only is your company in Lowell, MA, but you have a shop too (as if you didn't know that)! Yay! I'll be checking this out next Saturday. :)

We shop at several LYS(s)to try and keep them all going in our area. Can receipts from 2 different stores count if they add up to over $40.00 for yarn and books or do the receipts need to be from one store?

Does it have to be a LYS near where I live? I made an online purchase at a LYS in the next state over, and it came with the itemized sales receipt. Would that be acceptable or would it defeat the purpose of the supporting the local community? ( I live near Seattle and the LYS was in Portland.)

What a nice idea! I just bought a pattern book and yarn for a sweater from Strands Studio in San Clemente, CA but alas they are not a retailer :( I love the LYS experience and thank you for supporting them!!!

I also have a question -- I have a receipt for $48 (pre-tax) from a participating LYS (A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland, CA), but I paid for the items with a gift card I had purchased from them earlier, so the total paid at the bottom of the receipt says $0. Can I use this receipt with maybe an explanatory letter or something with it? -Eliza